Agony for Federer as Nadal wins again in Paris

PARIS: Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the French Open final for the third year running today and joined Swedish legend Bjorn Borg as the only man to win four straight titles at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard scored a stunning 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 triumph over the world No.1, taking the last nine games of the match, in stark contrast to the two four-set battles he edged to see off Federer in the two previous finals.

Federer was powerless to stop the barrage of heavy top spin fired at him as he slumped to a demoralising hiding. If he was a rapier, Nadal was a sledgehammer and in that matchup there was only ever going to be one winner.

Nadal has now won all 28 matches he has played at the Roland Garros and having just turned 22, he is well on his way to replacing Borg as the greatest clay court player of all time. He did not drop a set all fortnight.

"Sorry for Roger, but to win here is incredible and especially to win this tournament four times," he said after receiving the trophy from the hands of six-time winner Borg.

For the 26-year-old Federer it was another dark day in the City of Light.